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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. ball — a great time
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. spell — a short time
  6. kid — to tease
  7. ball — a dance
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. rest — what's left
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. kid — child
  12. game — wild animals
  13. spell — magic
  14. rest — a break
  15. spell — letters
  16. game — a match
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. date — the fruit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com